- Negenvoudig wereldkampioen Sébastien Loeb neemt plaats achter het stuur van de Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1
- Isabelle Galmiche eerste vrouwelijke bijrijder die sinds 1997 een WRC eindzege pakt
M-Sport Ford is verheugd te kunnen aankondigen dat negenvoudig World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb in mei opnieuw achter het stuur van een M-Sport Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1 zal plaatsnemen tijdens de Rally de Portugal. Lees verder
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Na een adembenemend debuut met het M-Sport Ford World Rally Team tijdens de Rally van Monte Carlo in januari, kan M-Sport nu bevestigen dat Loeb en co-pilote Isabelle Galmiche zich in Portugal opnieuw bij M-Sport zullen aansluiten om met de Puma Hybrid Rally1 voor de winst te gaan.
Sébastien Loeb keerde in januari terug in het FIA Wereldkampioenschap Rally. Hij won in totaal zes etappes en nam het op tegen achtvoudig kampioen Sebastien Ogier, voordat hij de eindzege pakte tijdens het openingsevenement van het seizoen 2022.
Na wereldwijd meer successen te hebben behaald in verschillende disciplines sinds zijn eerste overwinning van 2022, zal Loeb de beroemde Porto-grindstages betreden, geassisteerd door Isabelle Galmiche. Isabelle is de eerste vrouw die sinds 1997 een overall winst behaalde in WRC. Deze overwinning was nog specialer omdat het haar allereerste WRC race met Loeb was.
Lees het bericht hieronder verder in het Engels:
Rallye de Portugal marks a landmark occasion for the M-Sport Ford World Rally team which will become the first manufacturer to ever field five Rally1 cars on the same event. It’s an exciting opportunity for the team with a wide range of talent heading to Portugal.
Loeb’s return coincides with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the FIA World Rally Championship. A variety of activities are planned throughout the rally weekend as rallying celebrates 50 years of epic action on the most challenging stages and surfaces in the world.
The legendary Frenchman’s strong history on the event started back in 2007, where he claimed a victory on his debut in Portugal, after winning 11 of 18 stages. He went on to win the event again in 2009, then collecting a further two podium finishes and a grand total of 32 stage wins to add to his record-breaking tally.
Sebastien Loeb said:
“Driving the Puma is one of my favourite rally memories; winning Monte Carlo after such a long time was incredible. The team worked really well, with a quick fix to the difficulties we faced at shakedown, allowing us to claim our 80th rally win. From my first test with this car, I immediately had a very good feeling and I enjoy driving with so much power with the hybrid system. It’s a great car, a great team and we celebrated an incredible moment together.
Portugal was an empty space in my calendar and it’s a gravel rally, I have competed on this version of the rally in 2019 so I have a base of pacenotes from some of the stages. That was one of the reasons for choosing Portugal, the other was I wanted to do a gravel rally; I like driving on gravel so it was a very straightforward choice.”
Rich Millener, Team Principal, said:
“The memories of Monte Carlo still live strong in my mind, and I am sure this is the same for all the team. Personally, to have another chance to work with Seb and Isabelle is a dream come true. The fact that they want to come and drive with us again is something incredibly special for the team and reflects all of the hard work being put in by everybody back home.
It is also really important to give special thanks to Ford and Red Bull who have been pivotal in securing the pairing for this event – another example of how our partners are working together to give us the strongest line-up possible for the events in the WRC this season. I am genuinely excited to see what happens on the legendary Portugal stages, and I know the fans will be very excited to see this news and I look forward to seeing their support over the event weekend!”
Malcolm Wilson, Managing Director, said:
“This has been made possible by our great partners at Ford and Red Bull, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how Seb and the Puma Hybrid Rally1 perform on the first real gravel event of the year. It’s great to have such a strong line-up of drivers and I’m very proud that our team is going to be the first to run five top-level cars at a WRC event. If anything, this shows just how appealing these Rally1 cars, and the Puma in particular, are to drivers and we hope to continue to push the limits of the sport. I am also hoping this popularity of the Rally1 cars will lead us to seeing more customers cars competing on events around the world.”
